Justice in Renewable Energy Supply Chains
In the final phase of its major research project on justice in renewable energy supply chains, IGS offers policy recommendations to guide renewable energy development in ways that are socially responsible and sustainable.
Read Policy Briefs (PDF)
The policy briefs focus on four topics:
- Mining for the Energy Transition: Creating a Just and Circular Economy
The mining and production of materials for lower-carbon and digital technologies remains a significant challenge to facilitating a just energy transition and circular economy. Recent research suggests practical and experimental pathways to accomplish material self-sufficiency. The authors recommend attentiveness to local concerns, improving transparency, regulatory enforcement and re-organizing economic priorities. - Manufacturing Sustainability: Towards More Equitable Solar Energy Factories
The production of solar panels remains essential to facilitating a just energy transition. The manufacturing of solar panels can be made more socially and ecologically sustainable. The authors recommend improving labor, material sourcing and accountability practices. - Solar Siting, Deployment and Operation: Improving the Governance of Solar Infrastructure
Solar photovoltaic panels are an essential technology for the energy transition. Although an important energy and climate mitigation tool, they can still have large-scale and negative impacts on ecosystems. These impacts are related to the placement, size, mitigation and restoration measures established (or not) on land. Concentrated solar power (CSP) facilities have negative impacts on land use, water and Indigenous burial grounds. The authors recommend stronger governance protections concerning the deployment of solar facilities on desert, forested or agricultural lands and, instead, prioritizing their placement on buildings and structures already occupying land. - Solar Panel Disposal: Towards Accountability and Recycling
The environmental impact of solar panels is intimately linked to whether and how they are decommissioned. The research found that solar panels are frequently landfilled, and also claims of recycling solar panels often entail only recycling a small percentage of the panel. The authors recommend new regulations and incentives to support solar panel recycling.